Day: October 2, 2018

Daily Pic 10/02/18 (North Cascades National Park)

Ethan Welty

North Cascades National Park at 50

You’ve heard of Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks—but here’s a lesser-known destination to add to your national park bucket list. North Cascades National Park celebrates its 50th anniversary today. Located about 100 miles northeast of Seattle, and stretching up to the Canadian border, it’s surrounded by two national recreation areas and other protected lands, including several national forests and wilderness areas, and by Canadian provincial parks in neighboring British Columbia. Despite all this stunning wilderness, North Cascades National Park isn’t nearly as busy as the big-name parks, and that can be a good thing. Here you’ll find the most extensive system of glaciers in the lower 48 states—more than 300 glaciers. It’s the glaciers that lend a lovely turquoise hue to freshwater lakes, like Ouzel Lake on today’s homepage. The 500,000-acre park also boasts spectacular wildlife, alpine forests, and waterfalls. See you there?

Daily Pic 10/02/17

© Tim Fitzharris/Minden Pictures

Rio Grande, New Mexico



Today in History 10/02 (North Cascades National Park)

A ceremony at The White House on Oct. 2, 1968 (© Charles Tasnadi/AP)(1968) North Cascades National Park established
After years of debate over whether the region should be controlled by the Forest Service or National Park Service, the North Cascades National Park Act is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. The park will include the North Cascades Range mountains as well as more than 300 glaciers.
North Cascades National Park is a United States national park in the state of Washington. At more than 500,000 acres, North Cascades National Park is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the North Cascades National Park Complex. North Cascades National Park consists of a northern and southern section, bisected by the Skagit River that flows through Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Lake Chelan National Recreation Area lies on the southern border of the south unit of the park. In addition to the two national recreation areas, other protected lands including several national forests and wilderness areas, as well as Canadian provincial parks in British Columbia nearly surround the park. North Cascades National Park features the rugged mountain peaks of the North Cascades Range, the most expansive glacial system in the contiguous United States, the headwaters of numerous waterways, and vast forests with the highest degree of flora biodiversity of any US national park.
Website: www.nps.gov/noca/
Address: 810 State Route 20, Sedro Woolley, WA 98284
Phone: (360) 854-7200
Annual visitors: 30,326 (2017)
Travel tip: The least visited national park in Washington, it has a great deal to offer including a spectacular rain forest. @tripadvisor
Nearest city: Mount Vernon

Stephen Tyng Mather (first director of the United States National Park Service)
Stephen Mather, (seated at center) the first Director of the National Park Service, is the namesake for the vast wilderness area that now encompasses almost all of the park.
wiki/North_Cascades_National_Park
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(1968) North Cascades National Park established.
Also on this day,

1919 | President Wilson is felled by a stroke
Less than a year after the close of the First World War, and just weeks after collapsing during a hectic speaking tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles, the 28th US president suffers a catastrophic stroke. Woodrow Wilson is partially paralyzed and will never completely recover.
1959 | TV’s next stop is a show of shadow and substance as ‘Twilight Zone’ premieres
‘The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we’re about to watch could be our journey.’ So intones Rod Serling as his new anthology series, ‘The Twilight Zone,’ premieres on CBS. The science-fiction-fantasy show will develop a cult following with this and its 155 additional episodes.
1995 | Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ reaches No. 1 on Billboard
Three months after releasing her third album, Alanis Morissette becomes the first Canadian woman to sit atop the Billboard 200 album chart. Billboard will later name ‘Jagged Little Pill’ the No. 1 album of the 90s.

Today in History 10/02/17

Illustration of the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution (© Kean Collection/Getty Images)(1835) A Texas revolt pits provincials against Mexico's army
The town of Gonzales, Mexico sees its mostly Texian citizens erupt in an armed revolt when the Mexican military tries to seize their weapons. The Battle of Gonzales will be the first salvo in the Texas Revolution, a struggle that sees Santa Ana's troops fight Sam Houston's soldiers.
The Battle of Gonzales was the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution. It was fought near Gonzales, Texas, on October 2, 1835, between rebellious Texian settlers and a detachment of Mexican army soldiers.
Date: Oct 02, 1835
Texas Flag Come and Take It
Texas Flag—Come and Take It. This flag was raised by Texas settlers at the Battle of Gonzales in October 1835 after Mexico attempted to retrieve a cannon which had been granted to the town of Gonzales for protection against raids by native tribes.

wiki/Battle_of_Gonzales
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